MIDWIFE Pauline Bye was a double winner at the Director of Nursing Awards - but, like the other award recipients, she was modest about the kind and caring work that resulted in her nomination.

Director of Nursing Awards Roll of Honour

Individual Awards:
Individual Awards: Elective division - Theatre nurse Marivic Limbo
Emergency division - Sister Jenny Bone and healthcare assistant Yvonne Loosley
Maternal and child health division - Midwife Pauline Bye

Team Award:
Elective division - The Wessex Ward and Basing Unit team
Emergency division - D2 nursing team
Maternal and child health division - School Health Nurses Team

Nursing Older People Special Award: Individual: - Staff nurse Bridget Osborne
Team: - Diagnosis and Treatment Centre nursing team

Basingstoke Deane Rotary Club Rose Bowl - Midwife Pauline Bye

Mrs Bye was nominated for her caring and selfless work at Basingstoke hospital's maternity unit and, in particular, for looking after a couple under extremely difficult circumstances.

The midwife was presented with both the Individual Nurse/Midwife Award for the maternal and child health division and the overall winner's award - the Basingstoke Deane Rotary Club Rose Bowl.

The awards audience heard how, shortly before Christmas, Mrs Bye spent hours at the bedside of a woman who knew she was going to give birth to a stillborn baby - staying at the side of the woman and her husband even after her shift had ended.

The nominating woman's citation said: "When we had to deliver our baby, we knew he would be born sleeping.

"The maternity team was struggling with its demands and, because of the pressure, we would have understood if Pauline was needed for live births.

"But she decided to stay with us - even after her shift finished. She gave us love and compassion and allowed our little baby's body to be delivered with dignity and tenderness."

Mrs Bye, who has worked as a midwife for two years, told The Gazette: "I am totally humbled. The woman who nominated me is a very special woman. She went though a really traumatic experience in her life and I am humbled that she has taken the time to think of me.

"I do not know what I did over and above what I would normally do."

A LIFE-THREATENING emergency that saw theatre nurse Marivic Limbo prove she always puts patients first led to her scooping the Individual Nurse Award for the Elective Division.

She was nominated for the award by consultant Merv Rees, a specialist in liver surgery.

He told the audience at last Wednesday's ceremony: "She arrived with us four years ago and has become a fantastic team player - she has mastered all the hi-tech equipment and it's a joy to work with her."

Mr Rees nominated the nurse in particular for her response to an incident in April when Basingstoke hospital received a patient in the middle of the night. The man had been in a motorcycle accident and was bleeding heavily from a ruptured liver.

"As I rushed him to theatre, there was Marivic," said Mr Rees. "She was not on duty and wasn't on call, but she had heard about the problem and had volunteered to help.

"We spent most of the night operating on the man and, if she had not come in, he would not have survived - that's unquestionable."

Nurse Limbo said: "I am really delighted about this award."

THE never-ending care and concern from the staff at Basingstoke hospital's Elizabeth Hall Centre won them an award.

The staff who work on the unit, which consists of the inpatient Wessex Ward alongside the Basing Unit out-patient service, won the Nursing Team Award for the Elective Division.

Leukaemia sufferer David Mellor was among the people who nominated them. He told the audience at the awards ceremony that the staff had pulled him through the last 12 months.

Mr Mellor said: "A year ago, I was diagnosed with leukaemia. These are possibly the most brilliant people I have ever met in my life. Their care and support goes so far, and their careful attention and professionalism is unbelievable.

"I have had a tough year, but these people have pulled me and my family through. Nominating them is the least I could do, and I am so chuffed they have won."

A NURSE who crucially intervened when she saw Parkinson's sufferer George Potten arrive in an ambulance at Basingstoke hospital picked up one of the evening's awards.

Sister Jenny Bone, who works in the Emergency Department, dropped everything when she realised it was Mr Potten in the ambulance.

The pair have known each other for many years, since she was a student nurse.

Mr Potten said: "In May, I was admitted by ambulance. Jenny was just arriving and saw me - she threw her coat one way and her bag the other.

"It was an hour before her shift, but she started work immediately, giving valuable information about my condition.

"I ended up in the intensive care unit, but what would the outcome have been without her commitment and dedication?"